International journal of cardiology
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We evaluated the accuracy of continuous wave Doppler for estimating pulmonary arterial systolic pressure in patients with tricuspid regurgitation. Of 44 patients with a variety of cardiac disorders, 39 (89%) had Doppler-detected tricuspid regurgitation. Adequate spectral profiles of the flow signals were obtained in 34 of them (87%), representing 77% of the entire group. ⋯ Continuous wave Doppler constitutes a sensitive method for the detection of tricuspid regurgitation. The method using the tricuspid gradient provides an accurate estimation of pulmonary arterial systolic pressure. Combined with other available methods (pulsed wave Doppler), this noninvasive technique can yield information comparable with that obtained at catheterization.